Jaunted

ahhh

I want to go!!!! But I won't settle for sitting behind someone; I'd so be driving that thing. Are there speed limits on the slopes?

Wilderness

If you are riding a snowmobile, you are not in "wilderness." Snowmobiles are antithetical to wilderness.

Huh?

Coso, tell that to the folks who rely on them to survive in the (vast) areas of the North where there are no roads... I'd say riding a snowmobile across the ice pack to kill your dinner qualifies as a wilderness experience, no? I can see how people object to the purely recreational use of them - but the fact is they're a lifeline for people whose lives are non-stop wilderness.

my sarcasm button

was on when i mentioned snowmobiling is a wilderness rush because they are pretty disruptive to nature. but actually, deva brings up a really good point about the usefulness of snowmobiles in the wild.

I loved snowmobiling ...

I tried this in Finland a few winters ago and it was a real buzz! Juliana, I was saved by annoying slow drivers in front of me there - they ended up breaking through an icy patch and ending up thigh-deep in water and I was able to go round them thinking "glad I wasn't in front".

Uhggg

It's no wonder snowmobiling gets a bad rap. First off, you were riding 2 stroke snowmoibles. The exhaust on them can be strong if you use the wrong kind of oil, and ride single file trails at slow speeds. Now, they have 4 stroke snowmobiles for the mountains. It's the same motor as a Street Motorcycle uses. You won't smell a thing, unless your sucking on the tail pipe. Second, you can't ride a snowmobile in "wilderness", or a bicycle for that matter. Although, that designation is a United States definition. BC is in Canada, and they have "wilderness" that is closed to snowmobiles also. Wilderness is a lie, with many heads. Third, the snow is 10 to 20 feet deep. Exactly what kind of animal would be walking around grazing in 10 feet of snow? There are no animals at elevations where you would snowmobile. Maybe a rabbit, but that's about it. Back east, they ride in thin snow, and there may be animals. In BC, no animals, deep snow. Fourth, snowmobiles are not antithetical to wilderness. Wilderness idealist are antithetical to snowmobiles, or anything not involving walking. There's a subtle distinction there. Snowmobiles are actually less damaging than hikers. But, I'm sure the donations collector at the Sierra Club will tell you horror stories, as long as you'll listen. So, don't let the truth get in the way. Snowmobiles are ridden in the mountains on 10's of feet of snow. Any exhaust does not linger. (google hydrocarbon bioremediation) (You do realize that almost all high altitude wilderness in this country was ridden over by snowmobiles, before it became wilderness, yet it's still pristine enough to make wilderness). Anyway, if you don't want to hurt the environment, don't want to disturb animals, and want to see snow covered mountains, from the top, in the dead of winter, then snowmobiling is the greatest sport ever invented. I do it all winter long. And, 13 miles from the nearest road, you don't see a single human, definitely not a skier, but you do see some incredible mountains.